IT Benchmarking: Assess Investments and Performance Optimization Fast and Objectively

By reducing technology complexity and realigning talent, among other things, world-class IT organizations deliver services at 22% lower IT costs (FIG. 1) with greater effectiveness and require 9% fewer full-time-equivalents (FTEs) per employee (FIG. 2). In fact, the typical large company can save up to $36 million by closing the gap to world-class IT performance – freeing resources to focus on higher-value activity and innovation.

Unrivaled insights that drive process improvement and IT transformation

Our IT benchmarking services provide access to the unparalleled information and resources that are part of The Hackett Group's proprietary Best Practice Intelligence Center™ – a repository of critical processes, benchmark data and business best practices developed from more than 13,000 business benchmarking projects conducted at the world's leading companies. Our unrivaled benchmark data gives insight into the performance and business best practices of peers and world-class IT organizations. Our IT benchmark studies provide a fast and objective way for executives to:

What makes the difference?

Two characteristics distinguish The Hackett Group's IT benchmark studies: The world's largest repository of empirically proven best practices and our proven approach for assessing performance and value. Our business benchmarking services focus on three drivers of world-class IT performance:

Factors that drive demand for IT function services, such as complexity (geographies, legal entities, regulatory environment) and volatility (rate of change, M&A activity)

Structural factors such as business practices, strategies, service delivery model, staffing levels, skill sets and technologies used

Execution/realization of value, including performance as measured by costs, productivity, resource allocation and value

Then, we use proprietary business benchmarking methodology to quantify your gap to world class – comparing your IT function's ability to execute efficiently (cost and productivity) and effectively (quality and value). We examine comparable organizations so you can see how the best do it and define continuous process improvement steps relevant to your own IT function.

Our analysts use IT metrics such as these to calculate world-class performance

Efficiency

Effectiveness

Functional and process costs and staffing levels

Staff time allocation by process

Labor costs

Hardware platform complexity

Total cost per end user

Number of applications

Percent of business on the primary ERP application

Percent of projects delivered to requirements

IT impact on the business strategy

Self-service enablement

SLA performance

Project return on investment (ROI)

Planning and staffing staff allocation

Impact beyond HR function borders

Business processes and systems inextricably link your IT function with other enterprise functions. Process improvements in one area may have a ripple effect on others; for example, improved IT controls may result in more reliable data for decision-making in other business areas.

Our business benchmarking approach examines efficiency and effectiveness not just within the IT function, but also with a view toward the impact across your enterprise.

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Depending on objectives, approach and business complexity, a benchmark can typically be conducted in about seven to 10 weeks. To learn about The Hackett Group's IT business benchmarking services, contact us.

The Hackett Group is a leading global strategy and operations consulting firm, with expertise in performance benchmarking, business best practices and business process improvement. Leveraging the world's most comprehensive proprietary benchmarking and best practices database, we provide our clients with performance optimization services that help them achieve operational excellence across the enterprise, including the finance, IT, HR, procurement and supply chain organizations. Our cash flow management services have helped our clients free up billions of dollars in improved cash flow. We can help you develop and implement a forward-looking HR strategy, to optimize your supply chain, or to better control your IT costs. With a veteran technology staff, we can also help you maximize your ROI on specific platform deployments such as a SAP or Oracle implementation.